The present invention relates to airless paint spray guns and more particularly to a flat tip nozzle for such guns.
Flat tip nozzles have been used in connection with airless paint spraying equipment as evidenced by U.S. Pat. No. 4,025,045 assigned to the assignee of the present application. As disclosed in that patent, a discharge end of the spray pistol includes a tip nut which is threadingly received on the gun and which engages over a flange of a guard member which in turn has means for engaging a flange of a nozzle tip. Thus, the nozzle tip which includes a non-circular orifice can be firmly held on the front of the spray gun to direct a relatively flat spray. The ledge on the outer diameter of the tip nut is generated as a circle which allows complete rotation of the guard member with respect to the tip nut. However, the inner diameter of the guard member which abuts the outer diameter of the nozzle tip has diametrically opposed flats thereon which mate with flats on the nozzle tip. In this manner, the nozzle tip is not rotatable independently of the guard member. This is desireable in the structure disclosed in the '045 patent in that the guard member has a slotted opening permits the fan of the spray to exit through the slots as well as the front opening of the guard and thus the slots must always be maintained in alignment with the major axis of the orifice opening.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,952,955 to Clements also discloses a safety tip guard for an airless paint spray gun having a slotted orifice. In this construction there is a tip retainer nut which is threadingly received on the gun and which axially retains a tip holder. The safety guard is formed by two spaced apart arms which fan out away from each other and thus define a slotted type opening therebetween. The major axis of the orifice is maintained in alignment with the slot of the guard by mating flat surfaces between the spray tip and the guard. The guard itself is rotatable on the tip retainer nut by means of a spring expansion ring which fits within the guard and over the tip retainer nut. Once the spray orifice is rotated to a desired position, the retainer nut is tightened with a wrench to secure the orifice in a fixed position.